As of this writing, CBS has no plans to bring any teams to NYC for the finale--and that includes the final three. There will be NO Early Show appearances or a check presentation on TES, (again, as of this writing). This decision appears to being at least partly attributed to the recent Early Show revamp. As you know, there have been no eliminated team interviews on TES this season, and no Finish Line as well. This absence was widely suspected to be due to budget cuts in this particular season. But the chance to hear the racers' view of what happened on their leg of the race added much to our fan enjoyment, and has been sorely missed. As best as I can discover, the current decision to not bring the final three racers to NY seems to be an Early Show and CBS decision, and not a WRP decision. Phil himself, Bertram van Munster, and Elise Doganieri have all been hugely supportive of our Internet community in the past, and I can't imagine that they are any happier about this news than we fans are.

Given that this is one of the best seasons in terms of ratings we have seen in years, this seems to be a particularly puzzling decision on CBS' part. Why would they want to miss such an excellent opportunity for free publicity for the race itself? At the last TARcon, there were ongoing TV interviews during the party, and media reports of the fan/racer interactions, as well the in studio interviews themselves. All of these help to create a "buzz" about the race itself. Many of us exactly meet the Early Show's target demographics, and given that Monday morning is a holiday, many more fans than usual would be home to tune in. And many of us are well traveled and would be considered a good customer for advertising product placements. What a perfect missed opportunity to advertise the NEXT race as they did after season 10 for All-Stars.

While CBS has never brought all the teams to NY like has been done for the Survivor reunion, they have always brought the final three, until now. Much of the credit needs to go to the racers themselves for this season's fabulous ratings--they are the ones who made the show so much fun to watch. So depriving the final three of their only chance for on camera interviews so far this season is very disappointing to them all, I'm sure. Most of the other teams this season do not, unfortunately, have the resources to make the trip on their own at this time.

The Internet community as a whole has also done "amazing" work in keeping this show front and center and promoting it to friends and family, which I am sure has contributed hugely to the upswing in the ratings. That makes it particularly sad that this may be the first finale to have either NO current racers, (or a very limited number), in attendance. All of the NYC events are planned solely as events by and for Internet posters, with racer attendance considered only an added bonus. It has always been part of the charm of this show, however, that at some point there was a possibility of interaction with the host, the racers, and even upon occasion, the producers. To be able to cheer for (or against!) your team choice all season, and then have a chance to meet them in person sometime during the finale weekend was always a highlight for many posters, and helped to promote the special magic of The Amazing Race. That chance will be sorely missed by many in NYC this time. In past years the show has even thanked the Internet community for their support, so it is again a mystery why they would ignore that very support this season. The love of the Internet community for the Amazing Race seems a valuable resource worth cultivating.

There may still be a sliver of hope that things could change over the next few days, as there are some behind the scenes efforts being made to convince CBS that this decision should be reconsidered.

In the meantime, as so many of the current racers are from Southern California, I'm sure that you will see more racers planning to attend the LA finale party, and that attendance can in no way be correlated with who is or is not final three.

If you would like to send CBS an email expressing your opinion about this, the best place to start would be here at the audience service line:

So, given no racers going to TES (and NYC), does that mean that TARCON 12 will be super boring? Won't the TWoP crowd be pissed, to say the least. Wow, imagine spending $75 and plane fare to watch the finale on a wide screen TV in a bar in NYC, without meeting the racers. Maybe Phil will show up and quell the riot. (Not that I was going to attend, anyway).

They have time (I think), but I doubt anything different is going to happen. Although it should considering the fact that they've been toying with TAR for a long time, to the point where it pushed the season back to be a mid-season replacement. Whatever the reason was...anyway, it happened, and now they're probably kicking themselves given the fact that they actually did push TAR12 back, decided to procrastinate green-lighting TAR13, and then there's this strike. Oops. That has to suck. Anyway, on a side note, good thing CBS hasn't treated March Madness like it's nothing to worry about, considering the fact that they'd probably be pissed if FOX won the right to air March Madness. Hopefully they'll be careful going forward to treat an emmy-winning show like an emmy-winning show. Doubt it; ten-to-one Survivor wins in 2008, and without realizing that TAR has gone 5-for-5, they'll dump TAR, stating that "While it was a great show, it wasn't all that, and for the record, Survivor won an emmy, and TAR didn't." Whatever.

Anyway, rant over. I'm not surprised, just upset since I can't believe the story about budget costs when they've hooked up Survivor and are getting another BB season in.

Anyway, I feel bad that your first TARcon has to be this way. However, the history behind the event was really just a get-together with other TAR fans (BTW, many people can explain this better than I could). The possibility of racers came up, and then became a reality. Naturally, TARcon grew over the next several seasons. A lot of people blew off TARcon8, with some/several returning during TARcon9 (nicer weather brings more people to the event, as well as the fact that more people can afford to take the time off around that time). Someone mentioned that people should show up to TARcon8 to watch with other fans and not because of the racers, regardless of the season, which prompted people to deny that it was the case (citing a bunch of excuses).

Then came TAR11 (All-Stars). It was a great season, but it turned out to be not all that. Again, a lot of people were either on the fence or decided to sit out the season. Then someone mentioned that a lot of racers were planning to attend TARcon11; all of a sudden, the event went from scarce to sold-out in rapid fashion (people actually tried to purchase admission via paypal, despite the fact that it was blacked out, it was quite sad).

In conclusion, while I also hope CBS reverses its decision, look at the event as an opportunity to meet other fans and watch your favorite show with the fans. While the racers showing up is the perfect "lure" towards wanting to go to TARcon, it's never a guarantee. And besides, given the # of people that often show up, it's difficult to impossible to chat with (all of) them, other than "Hi! Loved you on the race! Picture please? Thanks! Nice to meet you!" TARcon12 will not be super boring. I'm not one to say that, given how it's a week away, but I can't remember the last time anything featuring a 3-hr open bar turned out to be boring.

Sucks about the no-racer thing. However, I believe it's a one-time thing (budget costs), and that we'll be back to normal later this year. Tarcon might not be as awesome as in the past, but it won't suck. After all, while TAR12 people won't be able to show up, there are several others from past seasons that may attend!

Thank you georgiapeach! Next time, I'll keep my mouth shut! Bad news, but not too surprising!

Logged

Every reality star is someone's favorite

Winning isn't everything, but it isn't considered nothing either. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a tribal council, a pit-stop, a boardroom, dimming of the lights, and so on

So, given no racers going to TES (and NYC), does that mean that TARCON 12 will be super boring? Won't the TWoP crowd be pissed, to say the least. Wow, imagine spending $75 and plane fare to watch the finale on a wide screen TV in a bar in NYC, without meeting the racers.

As someone who has gone to two of them, (not going this time due to work), I can assure you that the vast majority of that crowd isn't going solely for racers as they know by now that isn't a guarentee and never really was. For me, I went because I got to hang with people who share the same excitement for the show and came out of the experiences as having a new set of friends. So TARAsia Fan, I'm asking you to have lots of fun for me and enjoy the Stitch drinks.

As for TES, that is pretty dissapointing. But seeing how CBS has treated this show in the past, including thinking that "Viva Laughlin" was worth airing and NOT having TAR13 ready to go, nothing surprises me at this network anymore.

Does the lack of TES mean that TARCON XII will be boring? I doubt it. There are 8 racers who would not be on TES anywhere who would normally be at TARCON. The Final 3 might have cause to reconsider because they want to be with Chip and Kim in L.A., but why should anyone else? After all there is still the famous Miss Alli to meet. Racers can't do that anywhere else.

I didn't mean that I'm going solely for the racers, there a lot of people whom I am going to meet (Peach, included and you too, Yikes), just that it would have been nice to meet them. But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone who attends TARCon.

Knowing the TV industry and some insiders like I do, Shelley Ross has been said to be a bit of a tyrant and when her mind is made up, there's no way to change it. If she doesn't want racers on TES, then they're not going to be there.

I don't know what CBS has planned for the check presentation. Perhaps they'll do it online or something like that.

But you can also try these--I think we still have a chance here to help not only this season, but whether or not we ever see TAR racers on TES again. But we need to act quickly.

You can also call CBS on Monday at CBS News: 212-975-4114 and ask for The Early Show and leave a (polite please!) message for the producer, Ms Shelley Ross. Or you can email her assistant at kestink@cbsnews.com

Thank you Ken! I think that this is important mostly for the future. I really have missed the TES morning after interviews--they were a delight to watch as the HOSTS were clearly so enthusiastic about the race.

Thank you all for helping here! If Jericho can do it--you just KNOW we can!

Logged

RFF's Golden Rule:Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.